Marx's Theory on the Fall of Capitalism

Why did Karl Marx believe that capitalism would eventually collapse and be replaced by communism? To what extent were his predictions confirmed by the history of the twentieth century?

Karl Marx is regarded by many as the first social scientist ever. Although it is argued that Adam Smith was the first great economist, and David Ricardo the first great modern economist, Marx is undoubtedly the economist that has had the biggest impact on economic history. It was he that masterminded the concept of a socialist utopia, which ultimately led to over a third of the world been ruled under the communist regime , a model that Marx concocted. Born on 5 May 1818, in Trier, one of Germany's oldest cities, Marx was the first economist who infused history, philosophy, economics, sociology and political theory all into his work. Marx was ahead of his time, his theories were ground breaking, only time would tell whether his predictions would come to fruition. Marx's main claim was that capitalism would eventually fall due to its own internal contradictions and faults, to be replaced by a socialist utopia, so to speak. Marx had many complex motives behind the eventual fall of capitalism, he delves in to great detail about these reasons in his masterpiece Capital (1867), in this text Marx writes about how the capitalist system will falter over time due to the way it operates. It is these faults of the capitalist system that are brought in to question when analysing an issue of this nature, what weaknesses did Marx identify in his writings and were these weaknesses evident in the capitalist system come the end of the twentieth century? A major argument that Marx put across in his scripts was that capitalism would force society to polarise, causing two classes within society, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. These classes were at both extremes of the social spectrum, the bourgeoisie been the rich "fat cats" who reeped the fruits of capitalism, they were normally the factory...

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...Karl Marx’s Criticisms on Capitalism
In 19th century, Karl Marx was recognized as the most influential philosopher. His philosophy and definition to economic structure is against capitalism. Karl Marx was born on May 5th 1818. At that time, capitalism helped society to progress. The distribution and production problem was solved by the invisible hand from Adam Smith. Market decided the demand, supply, and price. During the 19th century, his critique on laissez faire gained popularity. His analysis of capitalism was concise and penetrating. The working class under capitalism did not gain benefits from their work. They were paid with a low wage and long working hours. The workers were the oppressed. Consequently, the oppressed workers would take actions against capitalists. Therefore, capitalism would decline as workers realized that they had been exploited. The doom of capitalism was inevitable. [1]
The conflict between freeman and slaves, lord and serf, and oppressor and oppressed created class conflict due to their different economic roles and status in society.[2] Bourgeoisie, as the oppressor, their paid wages did not keep pace with the workers’ outputs. Misery had been created. Once the oppressed organized their power to get rid of the misery and inequality, the capitalists would face a revolution. In addition, the exploitation of labor force...

...Throughout his work, Marx's primary concern was the intellectual destruction of capitalism. Despite his belief in a progressive history, and in the inevitable downfall of capitalism, Marx thought that in destroying capitalism's intellectual support he could hasten its real demise and usher in a socialist era. Many of his works can be seen as reactions to the growing status of the relatively new field of political economy, pioneered by figures like Adam Smith, David Ricardo and Thomas Malthus, whose increasingly laissez-faire theories promoted an extension of exactly the features of capitalism that Marx thought were most defective. Hence his critique ranges from attacks on the complacent liberal bases of capitalism to complex analyses of the economics of the day and of leading theorists.
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...Marx's definition of class. It's strengths and weaknesses. -
Although the concept of class has a central importance in Marxist theory, Marx does not
define it in a systematic form. Marx left this problem of producing a definition of the concept of
social class until much later. The manuscript of the third volume of Capital breaks off at the
moment when Marx was about to answer the question: 'What constitutes a class?' Even without
his definition of class, one can reconstruct how the term is to be understood in his writings.
In the Communist Manifesto, Marx presents us with a theory of world history as a
succession of class struggles for economic and political power. The main classes of pre-capitalist
societies are stated as: 'freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and
journeyman'1. But the dominant theme of Western society is the conflict between the exploiting
bourgeoisie and the exploited proletariat. Thus it is the class structure of early capitalism, and the
class struggles of this form of society, which constituted the main reference point for the Marxist
theory of history. This is asserted by the Communist Manifesto's famous phrase, that 'the history
of all hitherto existing society is the history of all class struggles'2.
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...Sociology Essay – Assessment 1
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...Marx'stheory of human nature: alienation
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These passages talk about four kinds of human alienation or estrangement: (1) from our product, (2) from our productive activity, (3) from our species being and (4) from other human beings. What I would like you to do in your first essay is to give a brief explication of three of these four types of alienation, all except (3), alienation from our species being. I will explain the third type of alienation here, which, I hope will, help you understand the other three types.
To be alienated or estranged is to be distanced, or in opposition, or somehow not in the proper relationship to something. In saying that we are alienated, Marx is claiming that we do not stand not in the proper to certain products, activities, people or features of our lives. And, for Marx, this means we are fundamentally dissatisfied and unhappy. For our basic ends or goals or wants include being in a proper relationship to these things.
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...Clinton Surratt
ECON 295
Mid-Term Exam
October 15, 2009
I. Introduction
The fall and rise of Capitalism only tells part of the story of Capitalism. If Frieden were to title his book a few years from now, it would probably read “The Fall, Rise, and Fall of Global Capitalism” or “The Cycles of Capitalism” for I feel Capitalism has, in fact, occurred in cycles in we are in one of the final cycles. From the onset of Capitalism until today, Capitalism has produced some vast contrasts between many factors in the economy. Some of these contrasts are the rise of Monopolistic firms and the death of small firms along side and an ever-increasing income inequality between the rich and poor. The effects of Capitalism on today’s modern economy have come to a head. Our approach and attitude in attaining wealth in this Capitalist economy is almost reckless. The magnitude at which we are careless about the effects of Capitalism on our society is alarming and its death will bring about what I would call Efficient Conservationalism.
Global Capitalism is more evident now then it has ever been. If you look at the rate at which GDP has increased since the beginning of our country, you will see a sharp acceleration of total output since the inception of Capitalism in the late 1800’s and...

...Karl Marx is known as an extreme social theorist and has many influences on the current population today. Throughout his studies, his main interests included: politics, economics and struggles that existed between classes in society. In his famous book the Communist Manifesto, he explains how although society was mainly built upon capitalism, it will soon be replaced by communism. This drastic change will occur when the proletariat (the workers) will realize that they have been victims of capitalism and want to change their society to a classless society where communism is present.
Capitalism is the idea of a company or corporation owning and controlling all the means of society. In Marx’s terms these owners would be known as the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie control the socioeconomic system and have the proletariat work under them, essentially keeping themselves wealthy and in control. The system was so harsh that even if the proletariat wanted change, it was not possible because of how the system was designed. In order to gain a capitalist society, the bourgeoisie must first take complete control of the situation and become distinguised owners in a society.
After they own a big and successful corporation they then have workers in which they train and make their workers believe that in order to survive they must work and brainwashing the workers to believe that working is the only option they have. Once this idea...